KR101452564B1 - Daisy chain cascading devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique for serially connecting devices in a daisy chained cascading arrangement. The devices are connected in a daisy chain cascade arrangement such that the outputs of the first device are connected to the inputs of the further second device in the daisy chain to control the transmission of information such as data, address and command information, To the second device. Daisy-chained devices include a serial input (SI) and a serial output (SO). Information is input to the device via SI. The information is output from the device via the SO. The SO of the earlier device within the daisy chain cascade is connected to the SI of the later device within the daisy chain cascade. The information input to the previous device through the SI of the devices is output from the device through the device through the SO of the devices. The information is then transmitted to the SI at the back of the device and the SI at the further device via a connection from the SO of the previous device.

Description

[0001] DAISY CHAIN CASCADING DEVICES [0002]

The present invention relates to daisy chain cascading devices.

Current computer-based systems can be found almost anywhere and have been made into a number of socially used devices, such as cell phones, portable computers, automobiles, medical devices, personal computers, and the like. In general, there have been societies that rely heavily on computer-based systems to handle relatively complex tasks such as predicting everyday tasks or weather, such as simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook. As technology improves, more tasks are moved to computer-based systems. This, in turn, makes society more dependent on these systems.

A typical computer-based system includes a system board, and optionally one or more peripheral devices such as a display unit, a storage unit, and the like. The system board may include one or more processors, memory subsystems, and other logic such as a serial device interface, a network device controller, a hard disk controller, and the like.

The type of process employed on a particular system board generally depends on the type of task being executed by the system. For example, a system that implements a limited set of tasks, such as monitoring emissions produced by an automotive engine and adjusting the air / fuel mixture to cause the engine to fully combust the fuel, A specified processor can be employed. On the other hand, a system that executes a number of different tasks, such as managing a large number of users and executing a number of different applications, is configured to manipulate data to perform high-speed computations and minimize response time servicing the user & It is possible to employ one or more complex processors which are generally universal.

The memory subsystem is a storage device that holds information (e.g., instructions, data values) used by the processor. The memory subsystem typically includes controller logic and one or more memory devices. Controller logic generally interfaces processors and memory devices to enable processors to store and retrieve information to and from memory devices. The memory device maintains actual information.

The type of devices employed in the memory subsystem, such as a processor, is often derived by the type of task being executed by the computer system. For example, a computer system may have a task to boot without assistance of a disk drive to execute a set of unchanging software routines. Here, the memory subsystem may employ non-volatile devices such as flash memory devices to store software routines. Other computer systems can perform very complex tasks that require large, high-speed data storage devices to maintain a large portion of information. Here, the memory subsystem may employ a high-speed, high-density dynamic random access memory (DRAM) to store a large portion of information.

Currently, hard disk drives have a high density capable of storing 20 to 40 gigabytes of data, but are relatively bulky. However, flash memory, also known as a solid-state drive, is popular due to its high density, non-volatility and small size compared to hard disk drives. Flash memory technology is based on EPROM and EEPROM technology. The term "flash" has been selected because multiple memory cells can be erased at one time, as distinguished from EEPROM, and each byte has been individually erased. The emergence of multilevel cells (MLCs) further increases the flash memory density over single level cells. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the flash memory may be configured as a NOR flash or NAND flash, and the NAND flash has a higher density per given area due to the simpler memory array architecture. For further discussion, references to flash memory should be understood as either NOR or NAND or any other type of flash memory.

Devices in a memory subsystem are often interconnected using a parallel interconnect scheme. This scheme involves interconnecting devices in such a way that address and data information and control signals are connected in parallel to the devices. Each device may incorporate a plurality of inputs / outputs to coordinate data and address information to devices as well as parallel transmission of control signals.

One drawback with using parallel interconnects in memory subsystems is that there is a need for multiple interconnections between devices to transfer information and signals to devices in parallel. This adds to the complexity of the board implementing these subsystems. In addition, unnecessary effects associated with multiple interconnections, such as cross talk, are likely to limit the performance of these subsystems. Moreover, the number of devices integrated in these subsystems may be limited due to the propagation delay of the signals carried by the interconnection.

The techniques described herein overcome this drawback by providing a technique for connecting devices with a serial daisy chain cascading arrangement that employs fewer and shorter connections than parallel interconnect implementations. When devices are configured in a daisy-chained arrangement, devices are operated at a higher speed than parallel interconnect implementations, because using fewer, shorter interconnects is less prone to unnecessary effects such as propagation delays and crosstalk, Can be done. Also, fewer and shorter connections are likely to reduce implementation complexity. This reduced complexity also enables the subsystem containing the devices to be implemented with a smaller footprint, allowing the subsystem to occupy a smaller footprint.

According to an aspect of the techniques described herein, the devices are connected in a daisy chain cascade arrangement such that the outputs of the earlier devices in the daisy chain cascade are connected to the inputs of the subsequent devices in the daisy chain, (E.g., data, address, and command information) and a control signal (e.g., an enable signal) to a later device.

In one embodiment of the techniques, each device in the daisy chain cascade includes a serial input (SI) and a serial output (SO). Information is input to the device through the SI of the device. Similarly, information is output from the device via the SO of the device. The SO of the device in the daisy chain cascade is connected to the SI of the next device in the daisy chain cascade. Circuitry is provided within the devices to enable information input to a further device in a daisy-chain cascade via the SI of the device to be output from the device through the device's SO through the device. The information is then transmitted to the next SI in the daisy chain cascade via the connection between the SI of the next device and the SO of the previous device. The transmitted information may be input to the next device through the SI of the device.

Also, the clock signal is coupled to devices in a daisy chain cascade. The clock signal is used by devices to coordinate the transmission of information from one device to the next in a daisy chain cascade.

According to another aspect of the techniques described herein, a control signal (e.g., an enable signal) used by the device to enable data to be input to the device via SI and to be output from the device via SO, As is done, it is transmitted between devices in a daisy chain cascade. Here, a circuit is provided for enabling a control signal input to a further device in a daisy-chain cascade to be transmitted through the device and transmitted from the device via the output to the input of the next device in the daisy-chain cascade. The transmitted control signal is then input to the next device via the input.

According to the principles of the present invention, a flash memory system may have a plurality of serially connected flash memory devices. The flash memory device of the system includes a serial data link interface having a serial input data port and a serial data output port, a control input port for receiving a first input enable signal, and a control output port for transmitting a second input enable signal . The input enable signal is used in the circuit that controls the data transfer between the serial data link interface and the memory bank. The flash memory device is configured to receive serial input data and control signals from an external source and provide data and control signals to an external device. The external source and external device may be other memory devices in the system. In an embodiment of the invention, when the devices are cascaded in series within the system, they may further have an output control port echoing the received IPE and OPE signals to the external device. Thereby, the system has point-to-point connected signal ports to form a daisy-chained cascading scheme (large broadcasting / multi-drop cascading scheme).

These systems require unique device identification and target device selection addressing to allow the entire system to expand as readily as possible in terms of memory density without sacrificing the overall performance of the system, rather than using limited hardware physical device select pins You can use schemes. In some embodiments of the invention, each flash memory device may include a unique device identifier. The devices may be configured to parse the target device information field in the serial input data to correlate the target device information and the unique device identification number of the device to determine whether the device is the target device. The device may parse the target device information field before processing any additional input data received. If the memory device is not the target device, the serial input data can be ignored, thereby saving additional processing time and resources.

The foregoing description will become apparent from a more particular description of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale down or emphasize, but instead are for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the invention.

1 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of single-port devices configured in a cascade arrangement in a serial daisy chain.
2 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of single port devices configured with a cascaded array of daisy chained cascaded clocks.
Figure 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of dual port devices configured in a cascade arrangement in a serial daisy chain.
4 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of single port devices configured in a serial daisy chain arrangement having input and output for various enable signals.
Figure 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a dual port device configured with a serial daisy chain arrangement having inputs and outputs configured for various enable signals.
6 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of devices having a plurality of serial inputs and a plurality of serial outputs configured in a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement.
7 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with a read operation performed on a single device configured with a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement and a plurality of devices configured with the array.
8 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with information transmitted between devices configured with a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement.
9 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary serial output control logic for a single port device.
10 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary serial output control logic for a dual port device.
11 is a detailed block diagram of an exemplary serial output control logic for the device.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary configuration of devices configured with a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement and including exemplary serial output control logic.
13 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with the input and output of devices including the exemplary serial output control logic.
14 is a block diagram of an exemplary serial output control logic that may be used to transfer data from a memory included in a first device in a daisy chain cascade to a second device in a daisy chain cascade.
15 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with transmitting data contained in a memory of a first device in a daisy chain cascade to a second device in a daisy chain cascade using the exemplary serial output control logic.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of single port devices 110a-e configured in a cascade arrangement in a serial daisy chain. The devices 110a-e are exemplary memory devices each comprising a memory (not shown) that may include a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell, a static random access memory (SRAM) cell, a flash memory cell, Each device 110 includes a serial input (SI), a serial output (SO), a clock (SCLK) input, and a chip select (CS #) input.

The SI is used to transfer information (e.g., command, address, and data information) The SO is used to transfer information from the device 110. The SCLK input is used to provide an external clock signal to the device 110 and the CS # input is used to provide a chip select signal to the device 110. [ An example of a device that can be used with the techniques described herein is a plurality of independent serial link (MISL) memory devices as described in U.S. Patent Application 11 / 324,023.

SI and SO are connected between the devices 110 in a daisy chain cascade arrangement such that the SO of the previous device 110 in the daisy chain cascade is connected to the SI of the subsequent device 110 in the daisy chain cascade do. For example, the SO of device 110a is connected to the SI of device 110b. The SCLK input of each device 110 is supplied with a clock signal, for example, from a memory controller (not shown). The clock signals are distributed to each device 110 via a common link. As described further below, the SCLK is used to latch information input to the device 110, particularly at the various registers included in the device 110.

The information input to the devices 110 may be latched at a different time than the clock signal supplied to the SCLK input. For example, in a single data rate (SDR) implementation, the information input to the device 110 at the SI may be latched at either the rising or falling edge of the SCLK clock signal. Alternatively, in a dual data rate (DDR) implementation, both the rising and falling edges of the SCLK clock signal may be used to latch the information input at the SI.

The CS # input of each device is a conventional chip selection that selects the device. This input is coupled to a common link that enables the chip select signal to be asserted simultaneously to all devices 110 and to enable simultaneous selection of all devices 110.

2 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of single port devices 210a-e configured with a serial daisy chain cascading arrangement with a cascaded clock. Each device 210 includes SI, SO, SCLK and CS # inputs, as described above. In addition, each device 210 includes a clock output (SCLKO). SCLKO is an output for outputting the SCLK signal input to the device 210. [

Referring to FIG. 2, SI and SO of devices 210 are connected in a daisy chain cascade arrangement, as described above. In addition, the SCLK input of the devices and SCLKO are also connected in a daisy chain cascade arrangement so that the SCLKO of the earlier device 210 in the daisy chain cascade is connected to the SCLK input of the subsequent device 210 in the daisy chain cascade do. Thus, for example, the SCLKO of device 210a is coupled to the SCLK input of device 210b.

Note that clock signals propagate through daisy-chain cascaded devices, which can lead to delays. An internal delay compensation circuit such as a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit may be employed to eliminate this delay.

3 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of dual port devices 310a-e configured in a cascaded array of daisy chains. Each device 310 includes SI and SO, SCLK input and CS # input for each port, as described above. Referring to FIG. 3, the SI for the first port on the device 310 is labeled "SI0", and the SI for the second port is labeled "SI1". Similarly, the SO for the first port is labeled "SO0" and the second port is labeled "SO1". The SI and SO for each port are connected between the devices 310, as described above. Thus, for example, the SO of port 0 on device 310a is supplied to SI of port 0 on device 310b. Similarly, the SO of port 1 on device 310a is supplied to the SI of port 1 on device 310b.

4 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a plurality of single port devices configured in a serial daisy chain arrangement having input and output for various enable signals. Each device 410 includes SI, SO, CS # input, and SCLK input, as described above. Each device 410 also includes an input port enable (IPE) input, an output port enable (OPE) input, an input port enable output (IPEQ), and an output port enable output (OPEQ). The IPE input is used to input the IPE signal to the device. The IPE signal is used by the device to enable the SI so that information can be serially input to the device 410 via the SI when the IPE is asserted. Similarly, the OPE input is used to input the OPE signal to the device. The OPE signal is used by the device to enable SO so that information can be output serially from the device 410 via the SO when the OPE is asserted. IPEQ and OPEQ are outputs that output IPE and OPE from the device, respectively. The IPEQ signal may be a delayed IPE signal or some derivative of the IPE signal. Similarly, the OPEQ signal may be a delayed OPE signal or some derivative of the OPE signal. The CS # input and the SCLK input are coupled to separate links that distribute the CS # and SCLK signals, respectively, to the devices 410a-d, as described above.

SI and SO are connected from one device to the next in a daisy chain cascade arrangement, as described above. Also, IPEQ and OPEQ of the earlier device 410 in the daisy chain cascade are each connected to the IPE input and OPE input of the next device 410 in the daisy chain cascade. This arrangement allows IPE and OPE signals to be transmitted from one device 410 to the next in a daisy-chain cascade manner.

5 is a block diagram of an exemplary device configuration including a dual port device 510a-d configured in a serial daisy chain arrangement having inputs and outputs configured for various enable signals. Each device 510 includes a CS # input, a SCLK input, and SI, SO, IPE, OPE, IPEQ, and OPEQ for each port, as described above. SI, SO, IPE, OPE, IPEQ and OPEQ for port 1 and port 2 are denoted as SI1, SO1, IPE1, OPE1, IPEQ1 and OPEQ1 and SI2, SO2, IPE2, OPE2, IPEQ2 and OPEQ2 respectively.

The CS # input to each device 510 is connected to a single link to select all the devices 510 at the same time, as described above. Similarly, the SCLK for each device 510 is configured to be coupled to a single link to simultaneously distribute the clock signal to all of the devices 510, as described above. Also, as described above, SI, SO, IPE, OPE, IPEQ and OPEQ can be used to determine the SI, IPEQ and OPEQ of the earlier devices in the daisy chain cascade, To be connected to the OPE. For example, SO1, SO2, IPEQ1, IPEQ2, OPEQ1, and OPEQ2 of device 510a are connected to SI1, SI2, IPE1, IPE2, OPE1, and OPE2 of device 510b, respectively.

The SI, IPE, and OPE signals that are input to the SI, IPE, and OPE of the device 510a, respectively, are provided to the device 510a, for example, from a memory controller (not shown). The device 510d is provided to send data and control signals back to the memory controller via the SO, IPEQ and OPEQ outputs of the device 510d.

Figure 6 shows an exemplary embodiment of a system including a plurality of devices 610a-d having a plurality of serial inputs SI0-SnIn and a plurality of serial outputs SO0-SOn configured in a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement Fig. In addition, each device 610 has an SCLK input and a CS # input, as described above.

The serial inputs SI0-SnIn and serial outputs SO0-SOn employed for each device 610 are each such that information is input to the device 610 in a serial fashion and output from the device 610 do. Each input may be assigned a specific role for inputting specific types of information (e.g., address, command, data) and / or signals (e.g., enable signals) to the device 610. Similarly, each output may be assigned a specific role for outputting specific types of information and signals from device 610. [ For example, one or more inputs may be assigned a role to enable address information to be input to the device 610. [ Similarly, for example, one or more outputs may be assigned a role to enable address information to be output from the device 610. [

The number of serial inputs and serial outputs for each device 610 generally depends on certain factors such as the number of address lines, command size, and data width size. These factors can be influenced by how the device is used in a particular system application. For example, a system application that requires a data storage device used to store a small amount of information may require fewer address and data lines than a system application that requires a large amount of informational data storage device, An apparatus having an input / output may be employed.

7 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with a read operation performed on a single device configured with a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement and a plurality of devices configured with the array. Referring to FIG. 7, CS # is asserted to select all devices. The read operation begins by asserting the IPE and clocking the information associated with the read operation to the device via SI. Illustratively, this information includes a command (CMD) indicating that a read operation is to be performed, a column address (Col.ADD) and a row address (Row ADD) indicating the start position in the memory where data is read.

At time "tR ", the requested data is read from memory and located in a special internal data buffer included in the device. The length of tR is generally determined by the characteristics of the cell containing the memory. After time tR, the OPE is asserted to enable serial transmission of data from the internal data buffer to the next device in the daisy chain cascade via SO. Data is output serially from the internal buffer at the SCLK rising edge, illustratively at the SO output. Data output from the device in the daisy-chain cascade is delayed by one clock cycle to control the delay associated with propagating control data, such as, for example, IPE and OPE. As described further below, the delay control is performed using a clock synchronized latch.

Some examples of the operation of cascaded memory devices for flash core architecture realization are shown in Table 1 below. Table 1 lists the target device address (TDA), possible OP (operation) codes, and corresponding states of the column address, row / bank address, and input data.

[Table 1] Command set

In some embodiments of the invention, each device in the system shown in Figs. 1-6 may have a unique device identifier that can be used as the target device address tda in the serial input data. Upon receiving the serial input data, the flash memory device may determine whether the device is the target device by parsing the target device address field in the serial input data and correlating the target device address with the unique device identification number of the device.

Table 2 shows the preferred input sequence of the input data stream in accordance with embodiments of the present invention including the systems described with respect to Figures 1-6. Commands, addresses and data are shifted in series into and out of each memory device starting at the most significant bit.

Referring to FIG. 4, the devices 410a-d may be operated with a serial input signal (SIP) sampled at the rising edge of the serial clock (SCLK) while the input port enable (IPE) is HIGH. The command sequences begin with a 1-byte opcode, also referred to as interchangeably referred to as a 1-byte target device address ("tda") and command code ("cmd" in Table 1). By starting the serial input signal at the 1 byte target device address at the most significant bit, the device can parse the target device address field before processing any additional input data received. If the memory device is not the target device, the device may send the serial input data to another device before processing it, thereby saving additional processing time and resources.

[Table 2] Input sequence in byte mode

The 1 byte TDA is shifted to the device, followed by the 1 byte cmb code. The most significant bit (MSB) starts in SIP, and each bit is latched on the rising edge of the serial clock (SCLK). Depending on the command, the 1-byte command code may be followed by column address byte, row address byte, bank address byte, data byte, and / or combination thereof, or nothing at all.

8 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with information transmitted between devices configured with a serial daisy-chain cascade arrangement. As above, CS # is asserted to select devices. Information is input to the first device in the daisy chain cascade by asserting the IPE and clocking the data to the device at successive rising edges of SCLK. The IPE is propagated from the first device to the second device in less than one cycle. This allows information to be clocked from the SO of the first device to the SI of the second device in one cycle after the information is clocked in the first device. This is repeated for successive devices in a daisy chain cascade. Thus, for example, information is input to the third device in the serial daisy-chain cascade at the third rising edge of SCLK from the latch point of the data at the first device. The control signals IPE and OPE are synchronized with the rising edge of SCLK to ensure proper setup time for these signals in the next device in the daisy chain cascade.

9 is a block diagram of an exemplary serial output control logic 900 for a single port device. Logic 900 includes input buffer 902 for IPE, input buffer 904 for SI (SIP), input buffer 906 for OPE, input latch control 908, serial-parallel register 910, output latch control A data register 914, an address register 916, a command interpreter 918, a selector 920, a page buffer 924, a logical OR gate 926, an output buffer 928, a selector 930, And a memory 950.

The input buffer 902 is a conventional low voltage transistor-transistor logic (LVTTL) buffer configured to buffer the state of the IPE signal supplied to the device at the input of the buffer 902. The output of the buffer 902 is supplied to an input latch control 908 which latches the state of the IPE signal and provides the latched state of the IPE signal to the input buffer 904 and the selector 920. The input buffer 904 is an LVTTL buffer configured to buffer information supplied to the device via the SI input. The input buffer 904 is enabled by the output of the input latch control 908. When enabled, the information provided to the SI input is supplied by the buffer 908 to the inputs of the serial-to-parallel register 910 and the selector 930. The input buffer 904 is enabled when the latched state of the IPE signal supplied from the input latch control 908 indicates that the IPE signal is asserted. The information supplied to the serial-parallel register 910 is converted by the register 910 into a serial form and a parallel form. The outputs of the serial-parallel register 910 are supplied to a data register 914, an address register 916 and a command interpreter 918.

Data register 914 and address register 916 maintain data and address information, respectively, supplied to the device via SI. The command interpreter 918 is configured to interpret the commands that are input to the device via the SI. These commands are used to further control the operation of the apparatus. For example, the "write memory" command may be used to cause the device to write data contained in data register 914 to memory 950 included in the device at an address specified by address register 916 have.

The input buffer 906 is an LVTTL buffer configured to buffer the OPE signal supplied to the OPE input of the device. The output of the buffer 906 is transferred to an output latch control 912 which latches the state of the OPE signal. Output latch control outputs the latched OPE signal state to OR gate 926. [ OR gate 926 is a conventional logical OR gate whose output is used to enable / disable the output of output buffer 928. [

The selector 920 is a conventional 2-to-1 multiplexer that outputs one of two inputs as selected by the signal DAISY_CHAIN. As discussed above, one of these inputs is the latched state of the IPE from the input latch control 908. Other inputs are set to logic low conditions. The signal DAISY_CHAIN indicates whether the device is connected to one or more other devices in a serial daisy chain cascade arrangement. Illustratively, the signal is asserted when the device is connected to one or more devices in a cascade arrangement in a serial daisy chain. When the DAISY_CHAIN signal is asserted, the latched state of the IPE signal supplied to the selector 920 is output from the selector 920. When DAISY_CHAIN is not asserted, a logical low condition input to the selector 920 is output from the selector 920.

The page buffer 924 is a conventional data buffer configured to hold information that is read from the memory 950. The selector 930 is a conventional 2-to-1 multiplexer that outputs one of two inputs as selected by the signal ID_MATCH. One input to the selector 930 is supplied from the output of the page buffer 924 and the other input is supplied from the output of the SI input buffer 904. [ The output of the selector 930 is supplied to the output buffer 928. [ The signal ID_MATCH indicates whether a specific command transmitted to the device via SI is addressed to the device. If the command is addressed to the device, ID_MATCH is asserted, causing the output from the page buffer 924 to be output from the selector 930. If the ID_MATCH is not asserted, the output from the SI buffer 904 (i.e., the state of the SI signal input to the apparatus) is output from the selector 930.

Memory 950 is a conventional memory configured to hold data. The memory 950 may be a random access memory (RAM) that includes cells such as addressable static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), or flash memory cells using an address input to the device via the SI.

Operationally, the asserted IPE signal is buffered by the input buffer 902 and sent to the input latch control 908 which latches the asserted state of the IPE. This latched state is supplied to the selector 920 and to the input buffer 904 to enable this buffer 904. The command, address, and data information input to the input buffer 904 then converts the information in a serial form into a parallel form and sends the command, address, and data information to the command interpreter 918, address register 916, To a serial-parallel register 910 for supplying the serial-parallel register 914 to the serial-parallel register 910. The output of the buffer 904 is also supplied to a selector 930. If the ID_MATCH is not asserted, the output of the buffer 904 is at the output of the selector 930, which is fed to the input of the output buffer 928. If DAISY_CHAIN is asserted, the latched state of IPE resides at the output of selector 920 and is supplied to the first input of OR gate 926. [ OR gate 926 passes the state of the IPE to output buffer 928 to enable output buffer 928. [ This, in turn, allows the information input at the SI input to be output from the device at the SO.

Data from page buffer 924 is output from the device by asserting OPE and ID_MATCH. Specifically, the asserted state of the OPE is supplied to the input buffer 906, which in turn feeds the state to the output latch control 912 to latch the state. The latched asserted state is supplied to the second input of an OR gate 926 which outputs a signal to enable the output buffer 928. Assertion of ID_MATCH may cause the output of the page buffer 924 to be present at the output of the selector 930. The output of the selector 930 is supplied to an enabled output buffer 928 that outputs data from the device at the SO output of the device.

If DAISY_CHAIN is not asserted, the output buffer 928 is only enabled by the OPE. This allows the device to be used in a non-daisy chain serial cascade configuration.

10 is a block diagram of an exemplary serial output control logic 1000 for a dual port device. For each port, the serial output control logic 1000 includes an IPE input buffer 1002, an SI input buffer 1004, an OPE input buffer 1006, an input latch control 1008, a serial-parallel register 1010, A latch control 1012, a data register 1014, an address register 1016, a command interpreter 1018, a selector 1020, a page buffer 1024, a logical OR gate 1026, an output buffer 1028, and a selector 1030 which are respectively connected to the IPE input buffer 902, the SIP input buffer 904, the OPE input buffer 906, the input latch control 908, the serial-parallel register 910, the output latch control A data register 914, an address register 916, a command interpreter 918, a selector 920, a page buffer 924, a logical OR gate 926, an output buffer 928 and a selector 930, .

11 is a detailed block diagram of another embodiment of the serial output control logic 1100 that may be used in conjunction with the techniques described herein. Logic 1100 includes an SI input buffer 1104, an IPE input buffer 1106, an OPE input buffer 1108, a SCLK input buffer 1110, logical AND gates 1112 and 1114, latches 1116, 1118, 1120 and 1122, selectors 1124 and 1130, a logical OR gate 1126, and an SO output buffer 1128. Buffers 1104, 1106, 1108, and 1110 are conventional LVTTL buffers, each configured to buffer the SI, IPE, OPE, and SCLK signals input to the device.

The AND gate 1112 is configured to output information input to SI to the latch 1116 when IPE is asserted. The latch 1116 is configured to latch the information when the clock signal SCLK is provided by the buffer 1110. DATA_OUT indicates the state of data read from a memory (not shown) included in the apparatus. AND gate 1114 is configured to output the state of DATA_OUT when OPE is asserted. The output of AND gate 1114 is supplied to latch 1118, which is configured to latch the state of DATA_OUT when a clock signal is provided by buffer 1110. [ Buffer 1106 is configured to buffer the IPE signal supplied to the device. The output of buffer 1106 is latched by latch 1120. Similarly, the buffer 1108 is configured to buffer the OPE signal supplied to the device. Latch 1122 is configured to latch the state of the OPE as an output by buffer 1108. [ Selectors 1124 and 1130 are conventional two-to-one multiplexers that each include two inputs. The inputs to the selector 1124 are selected for output from the selector 1124 by the ID_MATCH signal described above. One input is supplied with the latched state of DATA_OUT as being held by latch 1118. This input is selected for output from the selector 1124 when ID_MATCH is asserted. The other input is supplied with the latched state of SI as being held by latch 1116. This input is selected for output from the selector 1124 when ID_MATCH is not asserted.

The inputs to the selector 1130 are selected for output from the selector 1130 by the DAISY_CHAIN signal described above. One input to selector 1130 is supplied with the latched state of IPE as held by latch 1120 and the other input is constrained to logic zero (0). The latched state of IPE is selected for output from selector 1130 when DAISY_CHAIN is asserted. Similarly, when DAISY_CHAIN is not asserted, a logic zero is selected for output from the selector 1130.

OR gate 1126 is a conventional logical OR gate configured to provide an enable / disable signal to output buffer 1128. [ The OR gate 1126 is supplied with the latched state of the OPE as held by the latch 1122 with the output of the selector 1130. Either of these outputs may be used to provide an enable signal to the buffer 1128 to enable the output of the buffer. The buffer 1128 is a conventional buffer for buffering the output signal SO. As discussed above, buffer 1128 is enabled / disabled by the output of OR gate 1126.

Operationally, when IPE is asserted, information input to the device via SI is provided to latch 1116. Latch 1116 latches this information illustratively at the first up transition of SCLK after IPE is asserted. Similarly, latch 1120 latches the state of the IPE at this SCLK transition. Assuming that ID_MATCH is not asserted, the output of latch 1116 is supplied to buffer 1128 via selector 1124. [ Similarly, the asserted IPE is transferred from buffer 1106 to latch 1120, which is also latched, by way of example, by the first upward transition of SCLK. Assuming DAISY_CHAIN is asserted, the latched state of the IPE is provided to the output of the selector 1130 and sent to the OR gate 1126 to provide an enable signal to the buffer 1128. The latched state of SI is then transferred from the device via buffer 1128 as output SO.

When DAISY_CHAIN is not asserted, a logic zero input to the selector 1130 is selected and a logic zero is output from the selector 1130. This effectively disables the negative IPE with the enabled buffer 1128. [

Illustratively, at the next up transition of SCLK after OPE is asserted, the asserted state of OPE is latched in latch 1122 and the state of DATA_OUT is latched in latch 1118. Assuming that ID_MATCH is asserted, the latched state of DATA_OUT is selected by selector 1124 and applied to the input of buffer 1128. At the same time, the latched asserted state of the OPE from latch 1122 passes through OR gate 1126 to enable buffer 1128 to cause the latched state of DATA_OUT to be output from the device as output SO.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary configuration of devices configured with a serial daisy-chain cascading arrangement and including exemplary serial output control logic. Such an arrangement includes three devices 1210 that are configured to connect the outputs of the earlier devices in the daisy chain cascade to the inputs of the next device in the daisy chain cascade, as described above. The transfer of information and data from one apparatus to the next apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG.

13 is an exemplary timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with the input and output of the devices shown in Fig. Specifically, FIG. 13 illustrates the operation of the serial output control logic 100 within each device for transferring the information input at the SI input of each device 1210 to the SO output of the device 1210.

Referring to Figs. 11, 12 and 13, it is assumed that DAISY_CHAIN is asserted. When the IPE is asserted at the device 1210a, the information at the SI input of the device is passed to the SO output of the device 1210a, as described above, via the serial output control logic 1100 of the device. Specifically, the data is clocked to device 1210a at each rising edge of SCLK, illustratively after IPE is asserted. The state and information of the IPE propagate through logic 1100, as described above, and exit device 1210a, respectively, at the SO and IPEQ outputs of the device. These outputs are respectively indicated as S1 and P1 in the figure. These outputs are provided to the SI and IPE inputs of device 1210b and are passed through the serial output control logic 1100 of device 1210b as described above to enable the output of the device 1210b after one clock cycle from the SO and IPEQ outputs of the device And output from the device 1210b. These outputs are represented by S2 and P2, respectively, in the figure. Similarly, the SO and IPEQ outputs of device 1210b are provided to the SI and IPE inputs of device 1210c, respectively, to pass through the serial output control logic 1100 of device 1210c to provide the SO and IPEQ outputs Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 1210c < / RTI > after one clock cycle. These outputs are represented by S3 and P3, respectively, in the figure.

In the daisy chain cascade arrangement described above, the output delay of the signals in the daisy chain cascade for SDR operation can be determined using the following equation.

Output_delay = N * Clock_cycle_time

Here, "output_delay" is the output delay of the data,

"N" is the number of devices in the daisy chain cascade arrangement,

Is a clock cycle time at which a clock (e.g., SCLK) operates.

For example, assume that the clock_cycle_time for the daisy chain cascade shown in FIG. 12 is 10 nanoseconds. The total output delay for the data at the SO of device 1210c is 3 * 10 nanoseconds, or 30 nanoseconds.

In the case of DDR operation, the output delay can be determined as follows.

Output_Delay = N * (Clock_Cycle_Hours / 2)

In DDR operation, both edges of the clock can act as a latch point of the input data and a changing point of the output data. Thus, the total delay is one-half of the delay for SDR operation.

In the above description, the information input to the device 1210 is output after 1 clock cycle for the SDR operation and after 1½ cycles for the DDR operation. This delay is introduced to adapt to the time required to activate the output buffer 1128. [

14 is a block diagram of logic 1400 that may be used to transfer data contained in the memory of a first device 1450a in a daisy chain cascade to a second device 1450b in a daisy chain cascade. Logic 1400 includes a data output register 1402, an OPE input buffer 1404, an SCLK input buffer 1406, an AND gate 1048, a data output latch 1410, an OPE state latch 1412, a selector 1414, An SO output buffer 1416, and an OPEQ output buffer 1418.

Data output register 1402 is a conventional register configured to store data read from memory contained in device 1450. [ The register 1402 is illustratively a parallel-to-serial data register that loads data in parallel from memory and transfers the data serially to the input of gate 1408. [ SCLK provides a clock that is used by register 1402 to transfer data to gate 1408. As shown, the data register 1402 is configured to hold one byte of data including bits DO through D7, where D0 is the least significant bit (LSB) of the byte and bit D7 is the most significant bit of the byte (MSB). The register 1402 is loaded in parallel with the byte-wide data from the memory. The data is then shifted out of the registers, starting at the MSB and serially fed to the input of the gate 1408 one bit at a time.

Buffers 1404 and 1406 are conventional LVTTL buffers used to buffer the input signals OPE and SCLK, respectively. The OPE signal is transferred from the output (OPEI) of the buffer 1404 to the gate 1408. The SCLK signal is output from the output of the buffer 1406 to the data output register 1402 and the latches 1410 and 1412 to provide a clock to these components.

Gate 1408 is a conventional logical AND gate configured to transfer the output (DATA_OUT) of data output register 1402 to latch 1410 when the OPE is asserted. The output of the gate 1408 is designated as "DBIT ". Latches 1410 and 1412 are typical latches configured to latch the status of the DBIT and OPE signals, respectively. The selector 1414 is a conventional two-input two-to-one multiplexer controlled by the signal ID_MATCH. One of the data inputs is supplied with the latched state of DBIT. This state is output from the selector 1414 when ID_MATCH is asserted. The other input is supplied with the serial information SI0 input to the device 1450a via its SI. This information is output by the selector 1414 when ID_MATCH is not asserted.

Buffers 1416 and 1418 are conventional buffers configured to buffer the output of selector 1414 and latch 1416, respectively. The output of buffer 1416 exits device 1450a as SO (SO0) and the output of buffer 1418 exits device 1450a as OPEQ (OPEQ0).

Figure 15 is a timing diagram illustrating the timing associated with transferring byte-wide data from the memory included in device 1450a to device 1450b using logic 1400. [ Referring to Figures 14 and 15, OPEI is short asserted after the OPE is supplied to the device 1450a in the input buffer 1404. OPEI is supplied to gate 1408 to enable data present at D7 of data output register 1402 to be latched at latch 1410 on the next rising edge of SCLK. Also, the next rising edge of this SCLK causes the data to shift right in the data output register 1402, so that the data in D6 is shifted to D7, the data in D5 is shifted to D6, and so on. The output of latch 1410 is provided to selector 1414, which outputs the latched state of the data to buffer 1416, assuming ID_MATCH is asserted. The buffer 1416 outputs this latched state from the device 1450a as the SO0 supplied to the SI input SIl of the next device 1450b of the daisy chain cascade. On the other hand, also on the rising edge of the first clock after the OPE is asserted, the state of the OPE is latched in the latch 1412. The output of the latch 1412 is transferred to the buffer 1418 to provide the latched state of the OPE as an OPEQ (OPEQ0) supplied from the device 1450a to the OPE input OPE1 of the next device 1450b of the daisy chain cascade Output. This process is repeated for the bits D6 to D0.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (62)

A system having a plurality of serially connected devices comprising at least a first and a second device,
The first device comprises:
A first input (SI) for receiving input data;
A second input (IPE) for receiving a first input enable signal;
A third input (OPE) receiving a first output enable signal set to a first logic level during a duration of time;
A first output (SO) for transmitting output data during said duration in response to said first output enable signal at said first logic level for said duration;
A second output (IPEQ) for transmitting a second input enable signal derived from the first input enable signal; And
A third output (OPEQ) for transmitting a second output enable signal derived from the first output enable signal; / RTI >
The second device comprises:
A first input (SI) for receiving the output data of the first device as input data; And
A second input (IPE) for receiving the second input enable signal transmitted by the first device; / RTI >
Wherein the output of the output data by the first device in response to the first output enable signal and the receipt of the output data by the second device in response to the second input enable signal are synchronized to the clock signal, A system having a plurality of serially connected devices. The method according to claim 1,
And wherein the clock signal is a common clock signal. The method according to claim 1,
The first device comprises:
Receiving an input clock signal corresponding to the clock signal,
In response to the received input clock signal, outputs an output clock signal to the second device,
Wherein the synchronization is performed by the first and second devices, respectively, in response to the input clock signal and the output clock signal. The method according to claim 2 or 3,
Wherein the synchronization is performed in response to any one or both of rising and falling edges of a clock cycle of the clock signal. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The second device comprises:
A first output for transmitting output data; And
A second output for transmitting a second input enable signal derived from the first input enable signal of the second device; ≪ / RTI > further comprising a plurality of serially connected devices. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein each of the first and second devices has a device identification number. The method of claim 6,
Each of the first and second devices parsing the target device address field of the received input data to correlate the target device address with a device identification number of the first and second devices, 2 A system having a plurality of serially connected devices for determining whether the device is a target device. The method of claim 7,
The first and second devices each further having a plurality of serially connected devices for parsing the target device address field before processing any received additional input data. The method of claim 8,
Each of the first and second devices further having a plurality of serially connected devices, wherein the input data is ignored if the device is not the target device. The method according to claim 1,
The second device comprises:
Further comprising a third input for receiving a first output enable signal corresponding to the second output enable signal transmitted by the first device. The method according to claim 1,
The first device comprises:
Memory;
A circuit for receiving the input data at the first input, for transferring the input data to the memory, and for transferring output data to the first output; And
Circuitry for controlling data transfer between the first input and the memory and between the first input and the first output; Further comprising a plurality of serially connected devices. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein the first device further comprises a memory and a first device identifier,
The first device receiving the input data at the first input from an external source,
Transmitting the output data from the first output,
Wherein the input data and the output data comprise target device address information,
The first device processes the input data if the target device address correlates to the first device identifier,
Wherein the second device further comprises a second device identifier,
Wherein the first input of the second device communicates with the first output of the first device,
The second device receives the output data of the first device at the first input of the second device,
And processing the output data if the target device address correlates to the second device identifier. The method of claim 12,
And wherein the external source is a controller. 14. The method of claim 13,
And wherein the controller provides the clock signal. 15. The method of claim 14,
The controller comprising:
An output for transmitting the input data to the first device of the plurality of serially connected devices;
An input for receiving the output data from a last device of the plurality of serially connected devices; And
A clock output for transmitting the clock signal; And a plurality of serially connected devices. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the last device comprises a second device that also transmits the output data to an external target device. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the memory comprises a non-volatile memory. 18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the non-volatile memory comprises a flash memory. CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A method of controlling data transmission between a plurality of serially connected devices comprising a first and a second device, the method comprising: - each device comprising a memory having a link interface and a memory bank in the semiconductor device,
Receiving an input data stream at a first input of the first device;
Receiving a first input enable signal at a second input of the first device;
Receiving a first output enable signal set to a first logic level during a duration of time at a third input of the first device;
Transmitting, at a first output of the first device, the output data stream during the duration in response to the first output enable signal of the first logic level during the duration;
Receiving a clock input signal;
Enabling processing of the received input data stream in response to the first input enable signal to store data in memory or access data from the memory;
Transmitting, at a second output of the first device, a second input enable signal derived from the first input enable signal;
Transmitting a second output enable signal derived from the first output enable signal;
Receiving, at the first input of the second device, the output data stream of the first device as input data; And
Receiving, at a second input of the second device, the second input enable signal transmitted by the first device; And a plurality of serially connected devices. The method of claim 19,
Wherein the input data stream comprises serial input data,
Wherein the enabling comprises:
Further comprising the step of parsing the serial input data to extract a device address, a command, and a memory bank address of the memory bank, wherein the data transfer between the plurality of serially connected devices Way. The method of claim 19,
The command includes a memory access command,
Wherein the enabling comprises:
Converting serial input data into parallel data; And
Transmitting the parallel data to the memory bank; Further comprising the steps of: controlling the data transfer rate of the plurality of serially connected devices.
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